I Have My Secrets Too
by ForestCreeper
Summary: What if Severide wasn't the only one with a secret injury? When Matthew Casey was 8 years old he was in a bad car accident with his parents. They all surived but Matt had long-term problems with his back. Nobody but his parents know about it, so what happens when it starts affecting him at work?
1. Chapter 1

Hey everybody! I've decided to write a Chicago Fire fanfic! I had some ideas floating around in my head lately, and I absolutely LOVE Casey. This is being written on my IPod so there will be mistakes, I'll reread it as many times as possible to fix all of the mistakes! Most likely it will be an 'if' that's supposed to be an 'of'. Seeming as though I don't know alot about Caseys childhood, I'm making it up. I'm having him be from New York, cause I'm from NY. Enjoy! :)

My childhood was pretty good, we lived in a nice town in New York. It's name was Orchard Park, and we lived on the border between West Seneca and OP. Up the street from us was the North Station, I went past it on my way to school everyday. On a very rare occasion, there was a fire on my street one day.

The first truck on scene was Orchard Park 3, a pumper. The crew got off, the officer on board immediately taking control of the scene. They got a 4-inch line hooked up from the nearby hydrant to the pumper, connecting some 2 1/2 inch lines from the pumper. The pump operator also happened to be the Luitenant of the truck. The thing that happens next got my attention the most.

The next few trucks to arrive were Orchard Park 2 and 6 along with Orchard Park 9-1. As I watched 6 stop near my house, I was mesmerized. Orchard Park 6 was the ladder truck, and it was amazing to my 6 year old mind. As I watched the scene unfold, firefighters running with SCBA's on and pulling hose, I knew I wanted to be a firefighter.

Two years later I was in a car accident, I had a bad back injury and my parents were in pretty bad shape too. I remember hearing the sirens of the fire trucks and ambulances, knowing they would get us out to safety. I was strapped to a backboard, a collar on my neck to keep my head still, and put into the back of an ambulance.

I was taken to ECMC, my parents too. I had a large laceration on my back, and a fractured vertebrate that was pinching a nerve. Several muscles were damaged and I had 2 cracked ribs. It took me 2 1/2 months to fully recover, but I needed physical therapy. For 5 months I went to physical therapy, the only lasting effects were that my back would sieze up if I overworked myself or didn't do my daily stretches. There was also some pain that came back from time to time, but I was prescribed pain meds if that happened.

After that, two years later me and my parents moved to Chicago. There I met Andy Darden and Kelly Severide. I didn't tell them about by back problems, they only knew about the large scar that went across my back. I told them how I wanted to be a firefighter after I saw the firefighters in my home town battle a blaze on my street. I showed them pictures of all the firetrucks that Orchard Park housed at their Central house and at North Station. I didn't particularly like the mini-pumper at the North Station. It always backfired in front if my house! I was kind of happy when they got rid of it.

After graduating high school I still had that dream of becoming a firefighter in my head. I talked to my doctor and he said that I could be a firefighter, even with my back injury. Me, Severide and Andy went to the academy together, eventually being placed at Station 51. As soon as I set my eyes on the beautiful ladder truck, I knew what I was gonna do next. Little did I know that years later, at a simple house fire, the three musketeers would be reduced to two.

Eh. Eh? I thought that went very well! I actually, prefer Orchard Park 3. Some things I wrote may not be true. I don't know if you can act as officer and pump operator at a fire, I'd have to ask my brother seeming as he's a Luitenant and certified pump operator for my favorite pumper. If you don't know what an SCBA is, it's the air packs. I know my stuff here ppl, I'm a firefighter in training! I will wright a longer chapter and put it up soon. Hope you liked it and please review :)


	2. Chapter 2

Alright! Here's chapter 2, written at school during Jazz Band. The things you can get away with during this class are amazing. O.O WHOA. NO WAY. Our total payment for the Jazz Bands trip to Disney is $875! It was originally going to be $1,000 :) AMAAAZING! Alright, back to the task at hand! Hope you like it, enjoy!

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The day Andy died went by in a flash, I barely remember anything besides watching him being engulfed by the flames. I remember being frozen in shock and somebody pulling me down off the ladder, then just standing there staring. Severide was yelling at me, saying "Where's Andy, Matt! Where the hell is Darden!". I couldn't answer. Eventually someone led me back to the truck, probably either Dawson or Shay.

When we got back to the house I finally snapped out of the shock and completely broke down. Severide came over and sat with me, quietly mourning just like everyone else. Shay came over along with Dawson and wrapped me in a big hug, I just leaned into them, happy to have good friends like them.

The next month didn't go so well, me and Severide constantly at each others throats and ignoring each other. My back had been acting up due to the stress and I found myself taking one of my pain meds everyday due to aches. I had also started to notice Severide favoring his left arm, looked like some sort of spinal injury, I should know. I'll let it play out for now, but we are definitely gonna have some words about it if he leaves it without treatment.

So life continued on, though still more strained than before, and we did our jobs. Then life decided to throw a huge flaming mess into our faces, quite suddenly too. As soon as we were on scene I had a very bad feeling about this one. Me and Hermann were one of the teams sent in to evacuate trapped people. Then that very bad feeling came back and I heard alot of cracking. Just before we got to the stairs the floor caved in, pulling us down two stories. I landed on my back, Hermann on his stomach. I passed out as soon as I hit the floor.

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The next thing I know I feel someone tapping on my back, and fuck did that HURT. I opened my eyes, blinking away soot, and looked up to see Severide.

"Come on, we gotta check on Hermann." He said, voice muffled by his facemask. I got up, albeit painfully, and moved to help him with Hermann. We rolled him over, noticing his mask was fogged up Severide pulled it off and replaced it with his own. After attaching the rope to him and sending him up it was our turn, Severide pulled over a table.

"Come on." He motioned me up onto the table, cupping his hands for me to step on. After hauling me up I reached down to grab him, but the table broke underneath him leaving me to hold his full weight. And oh shit, he's HEAVY and I'm starting to slip and my back is KILLING me. I can see him gritting his teeth, oh are we gonna have a nice little talk about that injury of his if we get out of here.

All of a sudden arms are grabbing me and Severide, hauling our asses up and out of that hole. We stumble out of the building to see Shay and Dawson load up Hermann, covored in ash, grime and blood, into the back of the ambulance. I head over to the ladder and hop into the passenger seat, letting my legs hang out the door.

After sitting back and watching other crews take care of the fire Chief came over and told me to pack up and head back to the station. An hour later I found myself in a warm shower, letting the water roll down my back. I'd take a trip to my doctor tomorrow, have him look at my back to see if I pulled anything. After getting out, drying myself off and changing into fresh clothes I took a painkiller and headed out to my truck with my bag. I briefly saw Severide rubbing his shoulder, definitely gonna get on his ass about that tomorrow.

I got in my truck and headed home, enjoying the quietness inside. I parked in front of my house, locked the truck up, and headed inside. I gave a quick call to my doctor, letting him know I would be stopping by the next day for an exam, before making something to eat. I ate and then headed off to bed, mulling over the days events as I laid in the dark. Eventually I gave up on sleep and headed over to the hospital.

I found everyone, sans Severide, waiting in the slightly uncomfortable chairs in the waiting room. I sat down next to Chief, slightly wincing as I sat down, but luckily no one noticed. A while later Severide came in and sat down, he nodded at me and I gave a quick smile and nod back. I looked around and was glad to have people like these guys and girls as family. Looking at Severide I knew we would have to make up eventually, because Andy wouldn't want us to fight like this. I smiled and relaxed into the very uncomfortable chair, finally able to fall asleep.

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Yay! I wrote a chappie :D Definitely longer than the last one. Next chapter will hopefully have some angry Casey reprimanding Severide action! Just as a side note, I will probably not be able to update everyday. Monday through Thursday I have bowling after school and my bro likes to hog the pc. I am also technically SUPPOSED to be grounded from the pc :) But I never listen now do I? Hope you liked it and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! Leave a review! I like to know if I missed something, or if anyone has some ideas I could add. I'm not focusing on couples either, I don't really do that stuff. If anything it'll just be happy Brotherhood scenes ;) I'm all for the Brotherhood ppl! Thx for reading my long, ranting, notes.


	3. Chapter 3

Well, watched Wednesdays episode of Chicago Fire lastnight, big tensions goin on between everyone! Casey almost KILLS that one guy for asking about his mom. I'd be like that too if my mom was in incarceration. What did she do anyways? Doesn't it have something to do with his dad? I honestly dont know. But the end, I was like 'OH SHIT'. And Cruz leaving Flaco to die? Bad, bad Cruz. :\ Well the next episode should be VERY good with a whole two weeks to soak in the suspense. Poor Gabby and Shay :( Well enough of that, onto angry Casey and Brotherhood action!

P.S. Mostly written in Jazz Band, lolz.

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The night was filled with pleasant dreams, though they started to taper off into nightmares. Someone eventually woke me up, when I looked around everyone was staring at me for some reason or another...

"Uh..." My mouth hasn't started to work yet apparently.

"You were tossing and turning in your sleep." Dawson supplied. Oh, okay. Damn nightmares.

"Just a bad dream, I'm fine." Half the party present rolled their eyes at the 'I'm fine'.

"Sure you are. Comfy?" Severide asked, smirk on his face.

"Not. At. All." I said getting up, wincing as my back gave pangs of pain. Note to self: NEVER sleep in a hospital chair AGAIN. Shay however, along with a few others, noticed me wincing as I got up.

"You okay Matt?" Shay asked.

"Yeah, just stiff. Those chairs are horribly uncomfy, I'll go take a walk." She didn't seem totally convinced, but accepted it better than the usual 'I'm fine'.

I went outside to my truck, going in and grabbing a bottle of water and a pill. I took the pill and just leaned against the side of the truck, enjoying the warmth of the sun. After a little while I went back inside, sitting back down in my chair. I could swear that the chair just got even more uncomfy in the past 15 minutes.

"So, any news on Hermann?" I asked, the smiles on everyones faces let me know that was a yes.

"Oh yeah, we completely forgot to tell you! He'll make a full recovery and be back with us in no time!" Dawson said, I smiled and knew that was one thing off my mind. Next mission: talk to Severide. Preferably in a locked room with no one else around to hear what I tell him.

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A few hours later and I found myself and Severide in the bunk room. Well, it was now or a certain amount of time later. No way in hell I'd let this go.

"Hey Severide, can I talk to you?" He looked up.

"Uh sure." He had a confused face on.

"Come on, lets do this in private." I waved him over to my room. After he came in I closed the door.

"Severide, did you get your arm looked at yet?" His eyes went wide.

"Uh, yeah it's fine. Doc said it'd go away on it's own." I frowned.

"Don't lie Severide, I can tell it's a spinal injury." He tried to leave the room but I stopped him.

"How the hell do you know that?! You been following me around?" He yelled, I growled at him and be backed off a little. Oh did he know I was PISSED, and everyone knew to back off when I was pissed.

"You can't let something like that go untreated! You leave that any longer and it'll fuck up your life even more than gettin' it fixed would!" I yelled at him. All of a sudden his face hardened and he looked me in the eye.

"Oh yeah, and how would you know that Matt?" He spat, I didn't back down.

"You know how I got that scar on my back? I never told how I got it did I? Well I guess you get to find out now." I said coldly, his eyes narrowed and he moved back a few steps.

"You see Severide, two years before I moved here I and my parents were in a particularly bad car accident. When they took me to the hospital they found out I had a fractured vertebrae that was pinching a nerve. I also had some bad muscle damage. The scar you know about is just a bad laceration from that. Two and a half months Severide, thats how long I was in a back brace. I was in physical therapy for another five!" I yelled, he was visibly shocked at the sudden revelation.

"My whole point here, is that even though they caught it when it happened, it didn't leave me without problems. I have to do stretches and exercises everyday to keep my back from locking up. I have prescribed pain pills because I STILL get pain from the accident. I don't want this to happen to you, you get it fixed now and you might still have a life without pain." I quieted towards the end, when I looked at Severide he had a kicked puppy expression on.

"I didn't know what to do, it was either get the surgery and be out for six to twelve months and face not being able to work, or this." He said quietly.

"Didn't you think leaving it would make you stay out longer? When something like this happens you gotta take care of it, no matter the consequences. I'm still able to work aren't I? That fall yesterday didn't help my back at all." He smiled a bit.

"Yeah, falling through a floor can do that to you. Didn't you know that?" He joked, we laughed a bit before I turned to him.

"Listen, I gotta go to the hospital today to meet with my Doc for a checkup. He's really good with these kind of injuries, let him take a look at your back. I know that your gonna need surgery and he's the best person for the job." He looked around nervously, but knew that I wouldn't let him get out of it.

"Alright, but you can't tell anyone about this." He glared at me and crossed his arms.

"Fine, as long as you dont tell anyone about my problems. I do NOT need Gabby and Shay following me around everytime I wince." We laughed and went back outside. Heading into the kitchen we were both still smiling, which scared the hell out of everyone.

"What's got you two smiling?" Shay asked.

"Inside joke." I answered.

"Oh, well it's good to see you two not killing each other." We just stared.

"Uhhhh... Thanks?" Severide answered, I wasn't so sure I could've pulled off anything better so I just stayed quiet.

"I don't know, thought I heard some yelling from the bunk room a few minutes ago." Chief said walking in, we were saved by the tones.

"Let's get moving people!" I yelled, I had realized my meds would wear off during the fire, again. Hopefully it wouldn't take too long, but were usually never that lucky. After a few minutes we were out of the bay and on our way to the fire.

When we arrived I took a good look at the building; four story apartment building, kinda run down and some clutter by the door. Oh, was this going to be FUN. This place is probably full of useless junk that will make our job much harder. I was already feeling a little dread, along with a few twings of pain. But I ignored those for now.

"Alright, Mills your with me. Cruz, Vargas you too. We start at the top and work our way down." I put my mask on, pulling my nomex over it and making sure my helmet was tight before heading in. It was mostly smoke on our way up, a few tenants we made sure got down safely, and the occasional rat.

I broke through the first door, calling out, "Fire department! If anyones there call out!" Not hearing anything I moved on, making sure everyone knew the room was clear.

This continued on for the next floor and a half, the only signs of life being rats and other rodents. Hell, I even found a parakeet. I let it out of the window, wonder if anyone saw it. I was broken out of my thoughts by creaking coming from the ceiling. We had found the worst of the fire in the walls and rooms of the third floor, which I was currently under.

I made my way out of the room, the fire having started to spread to the second, and most likely fourth, floors. I broke through the next door to find the room completely engulfed in flames, the heat was INTENSE. I heard more creaking and groaning coming from the ceiling, I looked up and saw cracks in the ceiling.

"Shit! Everyone out this place isn't safe! The ceilings gonna cave on th-" I was cut off my the ceiling falling on top of me, pushing me through the floor into the room underneath me.

I was dazed, to say the least. For the second time in two days I found myself on the bottom floor of a building, but this time covored in flaming debris. I was aware my mask fell off, leaving me to breathe in the putrid smoke. I tried moving, only to cry out in pain as my left arm, along with my back, screamed in pain. Well that wasn't good.

"Casey! Matt call out!" I heard Severide yell over the flames.

"Severide! Down the hall, I'm trapped under some debris!" I yelled, coughing as I inhaled more smoke. Let's add smoke inhalation to the possible broken arm, concussion, and new back injury.

Severide, Vargas, Mills and Cruz soon showed up. They had to manuver through the clutter and debris to get to me. Moving a flaming desk(how did I not notice that before?) out of the way the guys made their way over.

"Took you long enough. My back and arm hurt, hit my head too."

"Alright, let's get this shit off of him and get him out of here." Severide ordered. A few minutes later and everything was cleared off.

"Can you walk out of here?" He asked, I looked at him with an 'are you seriously asking me that?' look.

"All you had to do was say yes, not glare at me." He huffed, hauling me up onto my feet.

Grunting in pain I moved along with him on our way to the door, holding my injured arm to my chest. As we left the building I took in some of the fresh air, coughing like a mad man before I found an oxygen mask over my face and felt myself being put on a stretcher. I looked up and saw Dawson and Shay moving around me with practiced ease, when they tried to take off my coat I cried out as my back and arm flared up again.

"Shit, sorry Matt. Didn't know you hurt your arm." Shay said.

"Not your fault, it's my back too. Took a knock to the head also." She leveled me with a gaze.

"Of course you did." She said dryly, I gave her the innocent look.

"It's not my fault the ceiling caved and pushed me through the floor!" I whined, she snorted before having some of the guys load me up into the back of the ambulance.

"See ya later Casey! Well come visit!" Severide shouted out, I waved with my good arm. As soon as the doors were closed we started moving and Dawson started to work on getting me out of my coat.

"You just had to fall through a floor." She muttered.

"Yesterday it was two." I shot back, smiling.

"Shut up and sit forward, were gonna do this quick." I sighed and sat up, grunting in pain as she pulled my coat off.

"Oh yeah, that's broken."

"Great." The rest of the ride was spent in silence, when we got to the hospital I was unloaded and sent to a room. I just can't get a break can I?

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Well, that went well. As a side note, a nomex is just a hood-type thing you pull over your head and the edge of your mask. It helps so you don't get burned during a fire. I have one, I've only used it once, as I've only used an SCBA(air pack) once. And damn, was it heavy! I'm a little scrawny kid so it's gonna take a bit for me to get used to it. Yay for angry Casey! Too bad Chief heard Casey yelling at Severide, he almost got away with it. Next chapter is gonna be whenever I can, and feel, like posting it. So if I don't do it before Christmas, Merry Christmas guys and gals that read this! Hope you have fun :) Thanks for readin, and leave a review!

P.S. If you read this before I fixed the typos, sorry about that. I have auto correct on on my iPod and it either screws up what im typing or doesnt fix it at all :)


	4. Chapter 4

Yay :) Tomorrows Christmas! I watched my brother play hockey lastnight with other guys from the fire company. Alot of the guys brought their kids in to play, my brother brought our cousin Hayden and his friend Brett. The littlest kids were so cute! When they would get the puck everyone would practically stop what they were doing to let then score. It was so cute! So I saw that last chapter I had Hermann participating in the fire while he's supposed to be in the hospital... MAJOR FAIL. But I fixed it, no worries :) Ok, back to writing this chappie. Hope you like it!

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Gabby and Shay had helped me out of my fire pants, and the Doc had nurses take some x-rays. Now we were all chilling in my room, waiting for the doctor to come back with my x-rays. About 5 minutes later the door opened up to reveal the doctor who was treating me, along with my back doctor.

"Hey Dr. Hanner." I said, Gabby and Shay raised their eyebrows.

"Hello Matt, what did you do to yourself this time?"

"Uh, well yesterday I fell two stories an landed on my back. Today I had a ceiling collapse on me, pushing me through the floor."

"Alright, your lucky I was free right now. At least I can fill your appointment for someone else. I'll take a look at your back as soon as that arm is casted." The other doctor stepped forward.

"Alright Luitenant, you fractured your radius in that fall and you have a mild concussion. I'm gonna have a nurse put a cast on that and then Dr. Hanner is gonna have a look at your back." He said.

"Alright."

"Good, we'll be back after your arm is casted." They left, leaving me with two slightly confused paramedics. I heard someone clear their throat, and I looked over to see two angry paramedics.

"An appointment with a back doctor? Anything you want to tell us?" Shit, well this was gonna happen eventually.

"Uh, yeah. About that." I swear if looks could kill, Shay would have killed menby now.

"Matt, is there something your not telling us?" Shay asked, not quite angry, but very concerned. Just then the nurse came in with the suppies for my cast.

"Alright, any specific color?" She asked. I pondered what color to pick from all of the ones she brought, before deciding on red.

"I'll just go with red." She put the cast on then left. And I was left with Shay and Dawson expecting an answer.

"Okay, yeah. An answer to your question. I have problems with my back, I was in a bad car accident when I was a kid. Had a fractured vertebrae that was pinching a nerve along with some muscle damage. I still get pain and I have to do stretches to keep my back from seizing up." I looked at their faces, and almost laughed. I guess they weren't really expecting a straight up answer.

"Ok, I was not expecting that." Dawson said.

"Not expecting what? The no-bullshit confession or the secret childhood injury?"

"Both." They said simultaneously. It was quiet before the doctors came back in.

"Alright Matt, now that your arm is casted we can take a look at your back." Dr. Hanner said.

"Fine with me." I turned around on the bed so the Doc could get to my back easier. After examining my back, he confirmed that I only had bad bruising.

"Well that's good news. How long am I out of work?"

"Six weeks if your good and don't use that arm." He looked at Dawson and Shay after he said that.

"We'll make sure he's a good boy while he's out." I snorted while the Docs chuckled.

"Alright, well get your release papers and you can head home."

"Thanks." They left to get the papers, leaving me to relax.

"So, what are you gonna do for six weeks?" Shay asked. Good question, what am I going to do?

"I honestly don't know. Maybe I could fly out to New York." Yeah, that's a good idea.

"New York? Why there?"

"So I can visit Orchard Park, I haven't been there since I was eight years old Shay. I wanna see how much my home town has changed in the twenty years I've been gone." I smiled, remembering the reason why I originally wanted to be a firefighter.

"Alright, good enough reason for me."

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An hour later I found myself sitting in the kitchen at the fire house, watching the girls cook. Everyone had missed lunch, and would be complaining of hunger when they got back. Even as the thought went through my head I heard the bay doors opening and the trucks backing into their respective bays. Talking and the slamming of doors were heard before the running of feet, hungry men hell bent on finding food rushing into the kitchen. I watched with amusement as they all scrambled for food, then deciding to speak up.

"Hey, isn't is ladies and invalids first?" I yelled over the chaos, watching as everyone stopped before looking over at me. Chief Boden walked through the door at that moment, chuckling at the faces of the dirty and hungry firefighters before him.

"I agree with Casey on this one, we had to cook for all of you cavemen." Dawson said, a huge smile on her face.

"We had to haul his heavy ass out of that building!" Severide countered.

"Yeah, well I'm out of work for six weeks." I pointed out.

"Casey, what are your injuries?" Chief asked me.

"Fractured radius, mild concussion and I surprisingly didn't have smoke inhalation. Oh, my backs got some bruising too." He nodded.

"Got any plans during your time off?"

"I think I'm gonna go to New York and visit my home town of Orchard Park. Haven't been there in twenty years, alot has probably changed."

"Sounds good, alright let's eat." We all got up to get our food, Severide grabbing some of the stuff I couldn't carry, and sat down at the table. As we sat there joking I knew I would be missing work for the next few weeks, but visiting Orchard Park would make up for that.

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Well, I finally got this written. After a few hours, lol. I had a nasty headache though, and my mind and heart are somewhere else right now. You see, in Webster, NY a man deliberately set his house on fire. He did this and when the first responders showed up, he opened fire on them. Four volunteer firefighters were shot, Lt. Mike Chiapperini, Tomasz Kaczowka, Joseph Hofsetter and Theodore Scardino. Lt. Mike Chiapperini and Tomasz Kaczowka died on scene. My heart goes out to the victims and their families, along with my brothers down in Webster. As an Explorer in my home town, and with my family being so involved in the fire company I can't help but think of those men, and possibly women who were there for the whole incident, as my brothers and sisters. Seven other homes caught on fire and burned to the ground, the firefighters unable to do anything because of the gunman. Police later found the gunman dead, he had shot himself. This is a sad day, a horrible Christmas Eve to all those who lost their homes and the families of the victims. Keep these people in your hearts, because they did their job only to have this happen to them. To everyone else, have a Merry Christmas, and remember the sacrifices some firefighters make to keep YOU safe.


	5. Chapter 5

Well having a tablet to type on now sure makes things easier for me. I love my Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 :) This would have gone up yesterday, but im still tinkering around with my Samsung. Hope you like it!

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It was about a week after my accident, and the Doc had cleared me for travel. The guys had literally covered my cast in doodles and stupid notes. Although they did manage to get a doodle of a Chicago Fire patch on there... I didn't even know any of them were that artistically gifted. I had booked a flight for the next day to take me to the Buffalo Airport, and I managed to find a hotel pretty close to town. It was already 8 p.m. and I had all of my clothes packed for a week-long trip. I had about another two hours before I would hit the hay, then get up at 8 to catch my flight at 9:30. Sitting down to watch TV I relaxed for two hours. watching reruns of a funny TV show, before I finally went to bed.

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The next day, around 2 p.m., I was in my hotel room, everything unpacked, and deciding what to do. I had rented a car for my stay, so decided to go into the village. Ten minutes later I was driving down N. Buffalo rd. and I noticed smoke in the sky, although it was almost impossible to spot in the cloudy sky. Listening closely I heard sirens coming from behind me, pulling over a West Seneca heavy rescue flew past. I immediately started following it, going the speed limit of course, and came upon a structure fire at what appeared be Don Tequilas Mexican Restaurant.

I saw firefighters everywhere, ladder trucks located in front of and behind the restaurant, and various other types of trucks. I had snuck out my turnout gear from the fire house and brought it with me, so I parked my car and got out my pants, coat and helmet. Throwing them on, doing my best with my cast, I started making my way through the maze of hoses, trucks, and firefighters. I saw a firefighter who obviously came from work, he was putting on his gear over black dickies and a Strikers t-shirt, along with an SCBA he probably grabbed off of a truck not on scene, behind his car. I carefully looked for a helmet that would signify a chief, finally spotting a white one by the restaurant. As I got closer the chief turned to greet me, a look of suprise on his face as he saw the Chicago Fire shield on my helmet.

"A Chicago firefighter? Well we could use all of the help we can get right about now. Whats your name?" He asked.

"Lt. Matthew Casey, though I doubt I would be much help with this broken arm." He nodded.

"Yeah, but you can still help in other ways." He had a good point there, I noticed that the roof was starting to sag while I was talking to the chief.

"Hey, it looks like that roof wants to collapse."

"Your right. All men inside the building evacuate, we got an imminent roof collapse." He said into his radio, confirmations were heard over the channel as firemen made their way out.

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\\BACK IN CHICAGO/

Lt. Kelly Severide was leaning against the countertop in the kitchen, looking at something on his phone. Everyone else was scattered, either at the table, helping cook, or watching TV on the couch. Even Chief Boden was sitting back with everyone. It was silent except for the clatter of dishes, directions when somebody asked, and the TV.

"No way." Everyone turned to the now smirking Severide staring at his phone.

"What did you find?" Shay asks, making her way over to look at the phone. What she sees makes her smile.

"Hey guys, come over here and look at this. I guess Matthew can't leave his job behind." Sure enough, when they all looked they saw one Matthew Casey standing next to a chief, pointing at something probably important.

"Wait, he sneaked out his turnout gear? How the hell did we not notice that before?" Hermann asks.

"I wanna know how he managed to even managed to GET his gear on. He has a broken arm!" Dawson says.

"Well, we'll have to ask him when he gets back. I doubt he'll be answering his phone anytime soon." Chief said, going back to his seat.

"Yeah, were DEFINITELY going to ask him about that." Severide said, putting his phone away and going to sit back and relax.

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\\BACK IN ORCHARD PARK/

About an hour later the fire was under control and put out. Crews were sent in to check for hot spots, but most mutual aid companies were sent home. I had helped grab tools and hand out water bottles. The chief(Richie was his name), had gone off to be interviewed by the news, so I was sitting back and relaxing. I was so absorbed in watching everything that I never noticed the news crew come up to me.

"Excuse me but could we interview you?" I turned and looked at the guy who asked me.

"Sure, why not." I said getting up.

"Alright, stand here, and in 3. 2. 1." He motioned at cameraman to start recording.

"So Lieutenant, coming from Chicago to a small-town like this, what is the difference between fighting fires?"

"Well, in Chicago we have shifts so we are never shorthanded on calls. Other than that we use the same equipment and tactics."

"How did you know the roof would collapse?"

"I've been in plenty of situations where I've been outside the building when the roof would collapse and inside when it would or did. I know the signs and just happened to see them. I wouldn't want anyone in there if the roof collapsed, it's happened plenty of times to me and I don't always come out unscathed" The reporter motioned for the cameraman to stop recording.

"Thanks for your time lieutenant." The reporter said, holding out his hand for me to shake.

"No problem." I shook his hand. He walked back to his van and started doing some news stuff, Richie walked back over.

"Thanks for the help, even though you couldn't do much."

"No problem, I broke my arm in a roof collapse a week ago, didn't want it happening to any of your men."

"Thanks, how long are you in town?"

"Until next Wednesday."

"Stop by the firehall Monday night at 6:30, I'd be glad to have a Chicago fireman at drill. Tell our guys about some personal experiences you've had, some things not to do during a fire." Well, that actually sounds kinda fun.

"Sure, I can do that! I got nothing better to do, broken arm and all." I said, motioning to my cast.

"Pleasure to meet you Matt, see you on Monday." He held out his hand and I shook it.

"See you Monday Richie!" I yelled while walking off.

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I was back in my hotel room, so I decided to call Severide. Knowing him he was probably looking up stuff about Orchard Park and came across some pictures of the fire. Pulling out my phone I dialed his number, he picked up after the second ring.

"Hey Matt, aren't you supposed to be on vacation? Not working at a fire scene." He said, I heard snickering from someone in the background.

"It's on speakerphone isn't it?"

"Oh, yeah. It is."

"Well, they did need the help. Besides, I got invited to their fire hall on Monday to join them for drill."

"Are you replacing us?" Hermann asked.

"No, I'm not replacing you guys. I'm here for a week, I have other stuff I can do."

"Yeah, okay."

"Just don't hurt yourself Matt, and how the hell did you sneak out your gear?" Dawson asks.

"I wont hurt myself, and you guys are just oblivious to your surroundings." I hung up. laughing. They are oblivious though, I walked past Shay, Severide, AND Chief, without them noticing. This was gonna be a fun week!

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Well I got that out of the way :) Some facts about the events in the story:

1) The Don Tequilas Mexican Restaurant fire IS a real fire from about 3 weeks ago

2) At the fire, firefighters were cleared out for an imminent roof collapse. No one was hurt.

3) Yes, our chiefs name Richie

4) The firefighter who came from work is actually true too, he is one of my family members. He did actually take a SCBA off of Orchard Park 3, cause they didn't have a full crew to respond with.

5) Drill is the weekly gathering of firefighters for practice, whether it be a tower day, auto extraction, practice in the maze, hose checks, hydrant checks, hydrant hookups, rope rescue, EMT stuff, etc. For OP it's every Monday at 6:30.

Hope you liked it!


	6. Chapter 6

Ok, so time for a new chappie! I hope everyone had a great New Years! This next little thing is for two random guest reviews I've gotten from the same person:

Ok, person, I don't know what your problem is here. For one, I use a page break to signify a change in setting, point of view, or significant time change. Two, I don't like it when someone reviews on something THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE ACTUAL STORY! I don't care if YOU don't like, nobody else has a problem with it. So now that you know that, I'm going to continue on with the story. Please, if your going to review again, do it about something relevant to the story. And if you dont like the story, then don't review at all. Thank you.

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It was now Sunday, I had taken advantage of the still mild weather to walk through Chestnut Ridge Park on Friday. Thursday had been spent mostly lounging around the hotel, I went out to eat. Saturday I went out to East Aurora around 7 to go to an open skate at the Think Rink. I found it pretty cool that the rink was the one used for the 2008 Winter Classic hockey game of the Pittsburgh Penguins vs. the Buffalo Sabres. It had been awhile since I went skating but I wasn't that bad. I was surprised they even let me skate, seeming as I had a cast on my arm... But I still had fun. After that I went back to my hotel, and watched TV until 11. Now it was lunchtime on Monday and I had decided to go to Strikers for lunch.

Strikers was a bowling center with a bar included. It was prety quiet, most kids being at school, but there were a few open bowlers and people in the bar. I sat a table in the bowling area and grabbed a menu, there's some pretty good food here. I could have a sub, burrito, angus burger, chicken fingers, french fries... Wow that's a lot of food. This was gonna take a few minutes to contemplate. Everything sounded pretty good, the angus burger especially. Now THAT, I could go for right now. I put down the menu and walked over to the counter, ordering and paying for my burger. About 12 minutes later my burger was brought to me, and it was the best burger I've had in awhile. After eating my delicious burger I threw out my trash, setting the little red basket on top of the garbage thing, and got up to leave. It was now around 1:30 and I had 5 hours to burn.

Stepping outside into the mild temperature of a late fall day I made my way over to my rental. Getting in I contemplated what to do until tonight's drill. I could head over to Quaker Crossing to catch a movie at the Regal Cinema, or take a walk around Green Lake. Deciding that seeing a movie would be a waste of time I started my car and pulled out of the parking lot. Turning onto Union Rd. I headed up to the five corners, and after waiting ten minutes the signal changed and I was driving down N. Buffalo Rd. again, but this time towards Green Lake. After passing the police station and library I pulled into one of the few parking spaces by the end of the lake that funnels into the creek. Getting out of my car I made my way down the side of the small hill and across the small bridge at the mouth of the creek. I used to come here with friends all the time when I was a kid, so the I knew the path through the woods like the back of my hand. There were a few joggers here and there, but it was virtually quiet. The high school would be letting out soon, if it hadn't already, and teenagers would be cutting through the woods on their way home.

Making my way aroud the small lake, I couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if we hadn't moved away when I was young. Would I have still gone for luitenant of a truck? Probably not, I would've been stationed at the North Station, not Central, because of the location of my house. Orchard Park isn't a paid servive, so I would've gone to Buffalo if I wanted to get paid. Even then I probably would have a side job, but probably not being a contractor. Even though I was sad when we moved to Chicago, I wouldn't have it any other way. If I didn't I wouldn't have such a great group of guys as friends, I wouldn't be a luitenant for Truck 81, and I wouldn't have had Andy and Severide as friends. Dodging a rabbit, I was pulled out of my thoughts. Looking at my watch I noticed it was already 5 o'clock. Man, how long was I thinking! Walking back to my car I headed back to my hotel, after changing into some clothes that would better suit me, I already had my combat boots on, I headed back into town. I stopped at Subway to grab some dinner, then proceeded to the Fire Hall. There were already a bunch of guys here, so I walked through the open door on the side of the bay that lead into the bay itself. Seeing Richie I walked over to say hi.

"Hey Richie, I made it." He smiled as he turned to greet me as well.

"Glad you could Matt. We still have some time before drill starts so why don't you mingle with the other guys. Have them give you a tour."

"Sure, why not." I headed over to the guys standing by the table/counter-type thing, they were all laughing about something funny.

"Hey, I remember you. You were at the Don Tequilas fire." A skinny, turkey-necked guy said.

"Yeah, I'm in town visiting and I guess I couldn't leave my job behind." I smirked, they all laughed at that.

"My names Jacob, whats yours?" Jacob asked.

"Matt, nice to meet you."

"Kowalski." A larger, but not too big, guy said.

"McNatty." A skinnier, slightly older man introduced himslef.

"You can call me M.J." A younger, skinny guy said.

"Jeremy." Another skinny guy introduced himslef as.

"Nice to meet you guys. So how about a tour of this place?"

"I'll do it!" Kowalski exclaimed.

"Oh no, don't think you get to do it by yourself, were coming along too." McNatty said. I rolled my eyes and laughed, they looked at me.

"What? You know you can all come right?" I asked, they had those 'I knew that' expressions on.

"How about you start by showing me your apparatus?" They all nodded like it was a good idea. Jacob was the first to move, walking towards 7, the Heavy Rescue.

"As you can tell this is our Heavy Rescue. Does your house have one?"

"Yep, we call it a Squad though. My best friend is the Leuitenant for it." They nodded, we moved onto a pumper, Orchard Park 2.

"This is one of the three pumpers we have, 1 and 3 are our other pumpers. 3 is at North Station along with an ambulance."

"Interesting, we have an ambulance, and our paramedics are awesome." They laughed a bit, moving onto my personal favorite. Orchard Park 6, the ladder truck, including a bucket on the end.

"And this is 6, our ladder truck. Have to be careful coming out of the door or you hit the top of it with the bucket." I laughed.

"I don't have that problem with my truck, we don't have a bucket on the end."

"Lucky you. These here are two more of our ambulances, we have many ambulances. Immediate Care gives us plenty of chances to use all of our ambulances." I could tell Immediate Care calls were something that happened alot.

"And now if you follow me, we can go downstairs!" Jacob said, moving towards the end of the bay we came from. Going through the red door, down a few steps, and down a hall filled with pictures, we came into the main lobby.

"Through those double doors is the banquet hall, nothing much to see in there, and over here is the Day Room." Walking through the door I saw a huge TV, three couches, a pool table, a bunch of tables and chairs, and a nice bar.

"Your TV is bigger than ours! No fair! I gotta take a picture of this and send it to Severide." I pulled out my phone and took a picture of the awesome Day Room, sending it to Severide.

"Who's Severide?"

"Lt. Kelly Severide of Squad 3, and my best friend since I moved to Chicago." They nodded, I felt my phone buzz and pulled it out, looking at the text Severide sent me.

_hose lucky bastards, everyone wants to go over there now. Are they even paid?'_

_'Nope, not at all.'_

_'Damn! You better not move back there.'_

_'Are you kidding me!? No way am I going unpaid.'_

_'Good, everyone would be pissed.'_

_'Don't you have things you could be doing?'_

_'No...'_

_'Did you piss off Shay and/or Gabby again?'_

_'No...'_

_'Should I ask?'_

_'No, you shouldn't. Shit, tones went off, talk later!' _I snorted trying not to laugh.

"Whats so funny?" Jacob asked, trying to look at my phone, I slapped him away.

"Severide pissed of Shay and Dawson, our paramedics. Let me tell you something, those two are ferocious when they want to be. Did I mention they're both girls? And Shay is a lesbian."

"Oh, he is so screwed then. Drill should be starting in a few, lets go back upstairs." After heading back upstairs Richie called everyone into the meeting room. He motioned me to stand up front with him, I complied.

"Alright, drill has been changed up a bit for today. We have here Lt. Matthew Casey of the Chicago Fire department with us today. A few of you might recognize him from the Don Tequilas fire earlier this week. Hes gonna talk about how things go down in Chicago, where the Fire Department is paid." Richie went and sat down.

"Well to start off I should say I'm happy to be back in Orchard Park, I moved away when I was eight, two years after I and my parents were in a bad car accident. I moved to Chicago, where I soon met two of the best friends a kid could have, Kelly Severide and Andrew Darden. We all joined the academy in Chicago, and soon moved onto our candidancy at Station 51. I and Severide moved up to the positions of Luitenant, he for Squad and I for the Ladder Truck. In Chicago we have alot more calls than a small town company like you guys. We covor alot of gang infested ares of Chicago, so we deal with alot of arson and shootings. A little over a month ago we had a house fire, a man was trapped in the attic. I and Darden went up to get the man, while Severide was supposed to vent the back. We had poor teamwork that fire, and it turned into a complete disaster.

"Because there was no vent, and Darden didn't listen, when he entered the attic a flashover occured and consumed him. We lost him that day and losing someone is never easy. This caused plenty of problems fort the next month however. Theres one thing you never want to do if something like that happenes, and thats blame each other for it. That happened with me and Severide, and it took us a month and another one of our firends almost dieing for us to make up. I've been on the recieving end of plenty of injuries during fires, some minor and some not. Theres always one thing you need to worry about, and thats structural integrity. Let me tell you, two days in a row, a little over a week ago, we had two bad fires. Both in apartment buildings, one much more full of junk than the other.

"At the first fire, we already knew things were gonna get bad. I and my crew went in to evacuate tenants, I was paired with one of my good friends, Christopher Hermann. Our Battalion Chief had come from a boxing match against the CPD, and when he showed up we where about to head back down, but he ordered us back up to the top. Me and Hermann never made it to the stairs, the floor collapsed from under us, sending us down two stories. I was lucky, I didn't have any injuries, but Hermnn had internal bleeding and other injuries. Luckily he is going to be okay and our crew should be back to full strength in to time.

"Now the second fire, not good at all. Four story apartment building, we went into search and cleared the top two floors of tenants. That place was filled with JUNK. My man I was paired up with had taken a tenant out so I was by myself for a bit. The roof had started to crack, and I knew I would have to get out. Unfortunately, I wasn't so lucky that time and the cieling collapsed on me, taking me through the floor to land under a pile of flamaing rubble on the first floor. I came out of that accident with a fractured radius, two broken ribs, a mild concussion, and some bruising on my back." For the next few hours I talked about various other incidents, and explained some things that were different between volunteer and paid services. Soon, our after drill meal was done. We had sloppy joes, chips, and various other sides. The Explorers soon left, they could only stay until 10 o'clock according to the by-laws, so it was just us firefighters left, watching TV. I soon decided it was time for me to head back to my hotel, after saying my goodbyes(and getting numerous phone numbers), I left and went back to my hotel. I fell asleep with a smile on my face, because I was exhausted and happy from the days events.

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Well that was great! Personally, I've never had the angus burger at Strikers yet! But its on my list of foods I still want to eat, along with the burrito. Green Lake is fun to to go ot, though I would only go to fish :) Oh, the description of the Day Room, completely true. They have a HUGE TV in there! We play pool sometimes, because the Explorers finish up before the firefighters sometimes if were doing something different for drill. Just so you know, we dont have alot of skinny guys in the fire company, many of them are larger guys. But we do have girl firefighters and EMTs! The whole 'Explorers have to leave by 10' is true, but only for weekdays. On weekends its until 11. We also cant be there during school hours, even if there is no shool that day. By-laws are by-laws and we cant break the by-laws. I think I just confused myself with that one... Well, I have other stuff to do, so I hoped you liked the chappie and please review! BUT I SWEAR IF SOMEONE REVIEWS ABOUT SOMETHING THAT IS NOT RELEVANT TO THE STORY AT ALL I WILL COME THROUGH YOUR COMPUTER AND/OR MOBILE DEVICE'S SCREEN AND KICK YOUR BOOTAY. With that said, have a nice day!


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